Internet Access in Public and Private Schools. Indicator of the Month.

National Center for Education Statistics (ED), Washington, DC.

This brief examines patterns of Internet access in schools. Highlights include: (1) Between fall 1994 and 1997, Internet access in public schools increased from 35 to 78 percent, but in fall 1997, 27 percent of instructional rooms had Internet access; (2) in fall 1995, public schools were more likely to have Internet access than private schools (50 versus 25 percent) and public schools had a higher percentage of instructional rooms with Internet access than private schools (8 versus 5 percent); (3) public schools with a high percentage of low income students (71 percent or more of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch) were less likely than schools with a low percentage of low-income students (less than 11 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch) to have Internet access in fall 1997; (4) in fall 1997, public schools with a high minority enrollment (50 percent or more) had a lower rate of Internet access than public schools with a low minority enrollment (less than 6 percent); and public schools with a high minority enrollment had a smaller percentage of instructional rooms with Internet access than public schools with a low minority enrollment; and (5) in both public and private schools with Internet access, teachers were more likely than students to have access to e-mail, news groups, resource location services, and the World Wide Web. A table showing percentage of public schools and instructional rooms with Internet access, by selected school characteristics (fall 1994-97) and two charts indicating Internet access in public schools (1994-97) are also provided. (AEF)